ram upgrade

[abfallmensch]

hello guys,
i bought a dell optiplex gx280 refurbished recently and like to use it to play games, watch movies..etc. i already bought an ati radeon hd 4550 graphics card, worked perfect. i have about 1gb of ram but id like to upgrade it to 2gb or if possible 4gb. now my question is, what do i have to consider if i wanna buy new ram chips? i have 2 slots with the existing ram which came with the mashine. is there a specific brand for this type of computer?here is the specs as listed from the place i bought it off:

A top end Dell model, featuring a super fast
2.8 Ghz Pentium 4 Processor with Hyper Threading
Technology and an 800Mhz Front Side Bus!

Also equipment with a super fast Sata Hard Drive
and a massive 1GB of DDR2 memory.

The Dell Optiplex SFF (Small Form Factor) is a space saving desktop,
and is less than 12" x 12" x 6" deep

Specifications:

Processor Intel Pentium 4 2.8 HT Ghz (with Hyper Threading Technology
Memory 1 GB
Hard drive 40Gb Sata
Graphics On Board Intel Extreme Graphics
Optical Drive CD Rom
Sound On Board Soundblaster Compatible
Networking Network Ethernet - Broadband ready
Operating System Windows XP & COA
Condition Refurbished
Warranty 3 Months RTB
USB 8 x USB 2.0 Ports
Other Features VGA Port, Printer Port, PCI Express Slot

except for the graphics card and an external dvd writer it is still the same as listed above.
thank you very much for your time and help.

[caperjack]

hi,from what i can find in a search it take ddr2 pc3200, i assume you have 2x512 in it now but speecy will show what you have ,
lets have a look at whats in it now ,
download and install and run Speecy, from this link .run program let it analyze the computer ,then go to file and chose publish snapshot ,copy and paste into your next post the url it creates ,
http://www.piriform.com/speccy

im using a similar Dell ,a GX620 with the same CPU ,mind you it aint super fast ,and neither is yours ,but it works quite well ,the hyperthreading helps and needs to be set in the bios if it isn't already .i have a 320 gig sata 7200 rpm drive
I have 4 memory slots and at present have 3x1 gig ,with one empty slot .
I'm using ddr2 pc6400 ram ,[likely running at a lower speed but the price was right ]1 samsung and 2 kingston ,running win7

[abfallmensch]

thanks for your fast reply. heres the link i got from the program: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/gTlG1td13fMOLxWXJj0qKBU
i know i wont end up with a high end computer but i got this one really cheap and the gfx card wasnt very expensive either. i just like to get the best out of that mashine. i defenetly have two slots (i checked it today) and yeah it works quite well,for my needs ;)

[caperjack]

i know i wont end up with a high end computer but i got this one really cheap

It will work great im sure ,it has the same cpu as mine ,and mine works great for what i use it for too. i would try to at leat add 2x1 gig sticks of ram ,removing and replacing both of the 512's ,i was just making fun of the description on the site where you bought it .[A top end Dell model, featuring a super fast
2.8 Ghz Pentium 4 Processor ] I paid 32.00 cdn for mine ,it had no ram or harddrive or cdrom ,but was well worth 32$.i added 3x1 gig ram[45.00 each ] and a 320gig hhd[60.00] and external dvd drive [45.00]enough about mine .lol, mine
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/optix_gx620?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh

what version of window are you running
this is the ram in yours from the speecy program .
Size: 512 MBytesManufacturer:
KingstonMax Bandwidth:
PC2-4300 (266 MHz]

one thing to watch for is that its pc2 4300 non ecc type ,and not ecc type

i would add 2x1 sticks, like one shown here .or if you can afford it go for 2x2gig if you want for best results
http://www.computermemorycanada.com/productDetail.asp?id=1953&avl=20&price=24.95&ons=N

[abfallmensch]

haha yes the description is funny,and i deleted half of it already lol. I bought mine here in ireland and paid 100 EUR for it. the OS is win xp profesional sp 2. addionaly i had to buy an external dvd drive (40EUR)and a ext. harddrive 500gb for fourty quit as well. plus the gfx card 35Eur. i think generaly computerstuff is more expensive of here. if i can scratch the pounds together i go for a 2*2gb extensions.
i think i gonna go with them:
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/455671/art/kingston/kingston-valueram-memory.html
thanks a lot for your efford mate

[Rik_]

Windows XP can handle a maximum of 3gb of ram! This includes the ram on the motherboard combined with the ram on the graphics card! If you exceed the 3gb limit then the computer will be slower!

If you decide to upgrade to windows7 at any point then you can use as much ram as your motherboard an take combined with any high end graphics card if you want to!

[caperjack]

haha yes the description is funny,and i deleted half of it already lol. I bought mine here in ireland and paid 100 EUR for it. the OS is win xp profesional sp 2. addionaly i had to buy an external dvd drive (40EUR)and a ext. harddrive 500gb for fourty quit as well. plus the gfx card 35Eur. i think generaly computerstuff is more expensive of here. if i can scratch the pounds together i go for a 2*2gb extensions.
i think i gonna go with them:
http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/455671/art/kingston/kingston-valueram-memory.html
thanks a lot for your efford mate

nope , the ram it that link is for a laptop ,not a desktop computer[sodim ram is laptop ram ]

[abfallmensch]

so if i get you right the maximum ram for my OS is 3gb? the gfx card already takes 512mb,so it leaves 1-1/2 gb. is that right? by the way..is there a difference with win xp 32 bit and 64bit? id like to stick with xp since it is (in my opinion) a well working OS.could i enhance the ram it takes by upgrading to 64bit? and if yeah , how do ido it?
excuse my english and ignorance about hardware stuff.

[Rik_]

the gfx card already takes 512mb,so it leaves 1-1/2 gb. is that right?

Correct, except it'd be 2.5gig of ram rather than 1.5!

XP 64bit will only go on your system if you have a 64bit CPU. Getting drivers for XP 64bit is an absolute nightmare too! I wouldn't recommend XP 64bit because of the driver issues and also the fact that most software wont work with it either!

[abfallmensch]

yeah, got that mathmatical mistake :)
iam happy with an 2gb ram extension, could you post a name for those chips please? its not cause iam to lazy to have a look myself, but its so much stuff,numbers,and things that i most likely end up getting it completly wrong. thank ye's for your time.
instead of "happy christmas" anarchy and peace.

[Rik_]

Not sure what you mean by "post a name for those chips please?". Do you want make, size, type, or speed?

[abfallmensch]

well..happy new year first. I mean themake for a 1gb ram chip that would suit my computer specs.

[Rik_]

Go to www.crucial.com and use their scanner to find out what ram you have and what your system can take.

For best results DO NOT MIX DIFFERENT RAM SPEEDS. I have come across many many computers with serious instabilities caused by mismatched ramand, in a few cases, damage to motherboards!

[abfallmensch]

i tried crucial and it gives me different specs then the program speccy did. and it doesnt give a brand name for those chips either, just a list of chips i can buy from them. i live in europe and dont wanna order stuff from the states (to safe the shipping costs) thanks anyway ill go bring my pc to a computer guy let him fix the problem.

[mbouster]

Crucial is the best for RAM updates.
Otherwise go to the manufacturers website to download the manual for your motherboard.

Go to www.crucial.com and use their scanner to find out what ram you have and what your system can take.

For best results DO NOT MIX DIFFERENT RAM SPEEDS. I have come across many many computers with serious instabilities caused by mismatched ramand, in a few cases, damage to motherboards!